Haus:Meanwhile, Anglican priests too scandalised by the ordination of women to endure it have seceded to the Roman Catholic Church, causing terrible trouble as they are allowed to keep their wives, undermining the insitution of the celibacy of the priesthood. It's like a more glam version of Sunset Beach.
Yeah - growing up, one of my sister's best friends was the daughter of an Anglican bishop. He converted to Catholicism, then wound up teaching at our Catholic high school - which must've confused some of the other students terribly. ("Mary Louise is lying about Father Watterson again!" "Uh, no, he really IS her dad....")
I really like moments when the "High Church" (as much as the high/low distinction exists in Catholicism) gets progressive - like when Pope John Paul II started agitating against the death penalty in Florida a few years ago. Conservative Catholics (like the immensely powerful Cuban Republican bloc) were sort of torn between church and state on that one.
On church attendance: I'm continually surprised at just how many people I know do go to church fairly regularly. It's like all of a sudden I feel I have to redefine them - especially if they fit into the "hardened cynic" or "consumerist" boxes in my head.
Although, to tell the truth, I'm *more* surprised at how many Jewish coworkers regularly attend temple. (One of my coworkers quit being a tabloid journalist and became a cantor.) I'm surprised, I suppose, because the real worship in Judaism takes place at home, and the synagogue is ostensibly more about learning the faith and less about expressing it - although, culturally, showing up on Saturday seems to be much the same as showing up on church at Sunday. Wearing the nice duds, making an appearance, solidifying community ties, that sort of thing.
(And bringing up Palestine can be a very dangerous thing around here.)
I will also say that regular church/temple attendance seems to be more prevalent among people in their 40s and up than people in their 30s and down, which probably has more to do with being (perceived as) an upstanding member of the community than actual religious faith.
Among the younger Christian faithful (read born-again Protestants) I know, going to a specific church seems to matter less than attending any church. People change them like they'd change, oh, beauty salons or gyms. "I used to go to First Baptist, but I'm at Lake Worth Presbyterian now." The born-again movement seems to emulate Judaism in that the religion becomes more an independent, home-based matter, and less connected to church hierarchies. The Bible study over the celebration of Mass.
Which is, after all, a pretty seductive ideology. Do what thou wilt, as long as it comes from the Bible....
On the "rockingness" of Christianity: might be worth browsing The Door (the world's pretty much only religious satire magazine).
From their Writer's Guidelines: Beneath the brilliant humor, the wicked satire, the jaw-dropping interviews, the witty bon mots, we've got an actual purpose for putting out the magazine. We're the guys and gals who shout, "The emperor's got no clothes!" We're the people who are all about busting idols. We're folks who are interested in holding a mirror before the Church.
Why? Because we love the Church of Jesus Christ. We expose venal televangelists not because we're opposed to Christians, but because we're opposed to people who make a mockery of the Cross. We do it because we're called to do it.
The editor also signs off with "Excelsior!" so you kind of have to like him. |
